When Nicolas came to the United States as a young boy, he was seeking political asylum, leaving a country that was dangerous for him to live in. He and his father got along fine in the United States. However, when Nicolas turned 19, he aged out of All Kids and was left uninsured. Even worse, shortly after his birthday, he was hospitalized. Luckily prior to his hospitalization, he connected with the Legal Council. We found he was eligible for Medicaid and could even expedite his application because of his asylee status. Sure enough, Nicolas was soon covered by Medicaid and didn’t have to worry about his costly hospital stay; he could simply focus on getting...

At age 2, Rashaan was not talking at the level of most children his age. Fortunately, his doctor noticed this delay, diagnosed autism, and ensured that he would receive Early Intervention (EI) speech therapy. EI ends at age 3, but federal law mandates that children in EI be evaluated to transition smoothly into special education services. However, Rashaan’s mother filed multiple requests for the evaluation but failed to get results. Because of the connection between our Chicago Medical-Legal Partnership for Children program and Rashaan’s medical providers, we were informed of this case and many more like it. Program director Amy Zimmerman filed a class complaint with the Illinois State Board of Education, eventually winning the battle and ensuring continuity of care for young children with delays and disabilities. As a direct result of the complaint, the Chicago Public School district...

Update on the Healthcare Landscape Under the New Administration Looking to hear more about how the Trump administration might affect healthcare and health insurance? Wondering how these issues will impact your clients and your work? Join us on Thursday, January 26, 2017 from 12:15 – 1:30PM to hear from local experts on the proposed changes to the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), Medicaid, Medicare, and other health policies. This session is a great opportunity for updates if you’ve missed other chances! It is also a perfect for pro bono, non-profit, and private attorneys of all disciplines to obtain a basic framework around these issues. You can join in person at the Chicago Bar Association (321 S. Plymouth Ct.) or via webcast on the CBA website. MCLE credit is also available! Registration is not...

2016 resulted in a banner year in the (nearly) thirty-year history of the Council. A few highlights of our work made possible because of your support: A record number of clients served: 1,823 A record number of cases handled: 2,860 Significant expansion of the Council’s medical-legal partnerships (MLP): We opened three new MLPs across the region, including a major expansion of the Council’s children’s program at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Over 1,300 children with disabilities in Illinois are receiving home care when they would have otherwise been forced into an institutionalized hospital setting. More than $18,000,000,000 (yes, billion!) in funding was made to life-saving safety net healthcare providers in Illinois. Our HIV program staff successfully negotiated with the Illinois Department of Public Health to prevent the termination of life-saving insurance premium assistance to HIV-positive individuals. We greatly expanded services...